Ottawa must cancel or significantly reform temporary foreign worker program, says Eby

VICTORIA — British Columbia Premier David Eby says the temporary foreign worker program should “be cancelled or significantly reformed” because the province can’t have an immigration system that takes young people’s jobs, while filling up homeless shelters and food banks.

Eby says one reason B.C. is facing “significant fiscal headwinds” is because of “very high unemployment rates” among young people, linked to both the temporary foreign worker program and the international student program.

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He says B.C. is willing to “convene provinces that are interested in this issue” to have a “serious, grown-up” conversation about immigration in Canada and its impact on critical infrastructure, such as housing and schools.

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has also said Canada should cancel the program with exceptions for difficult-to-fill agricultural jobs, and Eby says it’s a “very timely issue” for the federal government to consider.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday that his government would review the program but also added that it “has a role to play.”

Eby, who was in Surrey, B.C. for a separate announcement, says Carney’s government has taken “some good steps to rein in the excesses” of the program but Ottawa needs to do more.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Sept. 4, 2025.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press